The Heavenly Kid (1985)

The Heavenly Kid had the huge misfortune of being released in 1985 – the golden year of the teen comedy.  The year that brought us teen comedies like: Better off Dead, The Breakfast Club, Teen Wolf, and Weird Science to name a few (it certainly didn’t help its box office that it was released two weeks after Back to the Future).  The Heavenly Kid isn’t held in same regard as the movies listed and with good reason, it is not a very good movie.  It also doesn’t help that it has many striking similarities to the two Michael J. Fox comedies that were released that year, Back to the Future and Teen Wolf.  

In Back to the Future, Marty McFly (via time machine) travels back in time to 1955 and must insure that his parents end up together, or else he will cease to exist. In The Heavenly Kid, Bobby Fontana (via heavenly intervention) travels forward to the 1980s and must help out the nerdy high schooler Lenny, or his soul will be damned to hell.  In Teen Wolf, Scott Howard is an “average” student who yearns for better things (he obsesses over the popular blonde, Pamela, while spurning his cute friend Boof) and through supernatural intervention (his lycanthropy) is given everything he ever desired, but nearly loses his soul in the process. In The Heavenly Kid, Lenny is an “average” student who yearns for better things (he obsesses over the popular blonde, Sharon, while spurning his cute friend Melissa) and through supernatural intervention (Bobby, his guardian angel) is given everything he ever desired, but nearly loses his soul in the process.  

It would be ridiculous to accuse Cary Medoway and Martin Copeland of plagiarism, as The Heavenly Kid went into production the same time as both movies, but those movies have something that The Heavenly Kid complete lacks – a charismatic lead actor in the form of Michael J. Fox. Teen Wolf is not a great movie, but Fox is able to carry it on his charisma alone.  Lewis Smith (Bobby) and Jason Gedrick (Lenny Barnes) are serviceable actors, but are only as good as the lines they are given; neither of them are leading man material.  In Teen Wolf, we like Scott Howard. We don’t, however, like Lenny Barnes.  

 
First impressions are important in real life, but even more so in the movies.  Our introduction to Lenny is not a favorable one; he is working a shift at a burger joint and proceeds to botch everything. When he isn’t making a complete mess in the kitchen, he is leering at the popular girl, Sharon.  When he waits on her table, he flashes her creepy smile and awkwardly asks, “What would you like?”  When a group of teenagers taunt Lenny by shouting “WEINER,” multiple times, we are inclined to agree with them.  Of course, first appearances can be deceiving and maybe, just maybe we will eventually warm up to the Lenny – NOPE! It is particularly annoying how dismissive Lenny is of Melissa. 

When she tells Lenny that their English teacher thinks very highly of him, it leads to this exchange:
Lenny: C’mon Melissa! Nobody cares about that stuff.

Melissa: I do.
Lenny: Well, you’re different.

This is, oddly enough, the highlight of their relationship. Why does Melissa harbor a crush towards Lenny? Why would a “dweeb” like Lenny give a cold shoulder to a girl like Melissa? The movie does a rather poor job of defining their relationship. Are you they childhood friends? Have they recently met? It also makes the usual mistake of casting the more attractive girl (Nancy Valen) in the outsider role, while giving the role of the popular girl to a rather plain looking actress (Anne Sawyer as Sharon).  It’s not that Sharon is unattractive, but it doesn’t make sense that Lenny would obsess over her, especially when a fairly attractive girl is trying to win his affection. In Anne Sawyer’s defense, the script doesn’t give her much to do. Sharon is an extremely bland character and comes across as more apathetic than bitchy. Who knows? Maybe that was director Cary Medoway’s intention, but it makes Lenny come across as an even a bigger dunce.  

It also doesn’t help that the transition from “good” Lenny to “bad” Lenny is almost instantaneous – his transformation from geek to badass magically (literally) happens overnight.  Bobby uses his heavenly powers to give Lenny a new set of wheels and a complete makeover.  Lenny, through divine intervention, beats the school bully, Fred Gallo, in a fight and Sharon immediately runs into his arms. Given how unlikable “good” Lenny is, you would think that “bad” Lenny would be a cinch for Jason Gedrick. You would be horribly mistaken.  Gedrick’s way of portraying Lenny’s inner conflict is by donning a permanent scowl.  The scene where the new and improved Lenny struts down the school hallway, while everyone gawks at him is a comedy gold, but not for the reason Medoway intended.  If this is “cool” Lenny, then “geeky” Lenny must have been a maladjusted troglodyte that never saw the light of day. The only thing really separates the two is Lenny’s greaser hair do and black pleather jacket.  Of course, this is supposed to symbolize that Lenny is turning into Bobby (to the point that he develops the same mannerisms and phrases).  Except that no one in 1985 would find this cool; Lenny should have been greeted with derisive laughter instead of absolute awe by his classmates.  

Lewis Smith fares much better as Bobby and that is largely due to the fact that he is supposed to be unlikable. It is Bobby’s arrogance that got him killed in the first place. He challenges Joe Barnes to a chicken race, because his honor has been insulted, and gets killed in the process. He is assigned by his superior, Rafferty (Richard Mulligan), to help out Lenny and makes a complete mess out of it. Bobby is a terrible mentor – his tips for picking up women are antiquated and, in one case, leads to Lenny getting assaulted; he manages to get Lenny both high and drunk; and initially his main motivation for helping Lenny is a self serving one – a spot in Heaven.  After he saves Lenny from a fatal fall off a cliff, he informs Rafferty that he is ready to go and then expresses annoyance when he learns that his mission isn’t over. 

It is only after being reunited with his old flame (and Lenny’s mother) that he begins to see the error of his ways.  It must be said that scenes with Bobby and Emily nearly redeem the movie. Lewis Smith is particularly good in this section of the movie and Jane Kaczmarek does wonders with the material that she is given. It’s easy to feel Bobby’s pain when he finally realizes what his arrogance ultimately cost him – a chance at having a family of his own. It’s also in this section when we are given the “startling” revelation that Lenny is *gasp* Bobby’s son. 

I can’t talk about this revelation without discussing The Heavenly Kid’s biggest goof – its warped timeline.  The movie opens with the title card “The Ridge – the early 1960s.” This is confirmed by the style of clothing the characters are dressed and the fact that Jerry Lee Lewis song “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” is blaring on Bobby’s car radio. After Bobby is killed in “the chicken race” and has to spend time in purgatory (depicted as an endless subway train ride), the movie flash forwards to “the present,” which would make it 1985. Which means that Emily is either lying to Bobby, or Lenny is one extremely stupid high school student. If you go by the movie’s timeline, Lenny would be in his early twenties. Wikipedia’s summary of the movie has the opening set in 1968, but that is completely contradicted by the visual evidence on display. This is a huge over sight by Cary Medoway and it’s amazing that this goof made its way into the final movie.

The Heavenly Kid makes the common mistake of most bad movies and that is referencing a much better film – the opening scene is a recreation of the “chicken race” scene in Rebel Without a Cause. This is extremely laughable most due to the fact that three principals are  too old to be playing teenagers.  This is normally the case in most teen comedies, but The Heavenly Kid takes it to ridiculous levels – Lewis Smith and Jane Kaczmarek were in their late twenties at the time, while Mark Metcalf (as Joe Barnes) was pushing forty. It’s also odd to be seeing Mark Metcalf recreating the James Dean role (he sports the same red jacket and similar hair cut) considering his penchant for playing overbearing authoritarian figures (Neidermeyer in Animal House and the hard ass father in Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take it” music video).  He is not exactly convincing as a well meaning, but deeply misunderstood teenager.   

There are a few clever/funny moments scattered throughout the movie: as mentioned before, the idea of purgatory being an endless subway train ride is funny – especially when Bobby sees a Viking sitting at the back of the compartment; Bobby, while trying to convince Lenny that he is ghost, steps in front of an oncoming semi-truck and then jumps out of the way at the least second, because “I may be dead, but I aint crazy;” and the montage of Lenny trying to impress various women and constantly falling on his ass. These scenes offer a brief glimpse of what The Heavenly Kid might have been had it been done more competently.  Its tone is completely scattershot – it ranges from high drama to stoner humor. 

Cary Medoway’s direction is pretty heavy handed at times.  The most egregious example of this is when Lenny is sulking at party, while Sharon merrily dances with two men.  The visual works on its own, but Medoway can’t help himself and must have a 1980s pop song blaring on the soundtrack. The song (“Heartless”) literally serves as a Greek chorus (She’s heartless/colder than ice/ if you’re looking for love/you better think twice).  Then again, it could be that Medoway didn’t trust Gedrick’s performance (Lenny looks constipated for the entire second half of the movie) and needed some insurance just to get the point across. “It’s in the song, people. LISTEN! That’s how Lenny feels! Pay no attention to the actor!”

Credits
Cast: Lewis Smith (Bobby), Jason Gedrick (Lenny Barnes), Jane Kaczmarek (Emily Barnes), Richard Mulligan (Rafferty), Mark Metcalf (Joe Barnes), Nancy Valen (Melissa), Anne Sawyer (Sharon), Beau Dremann (Bill), Stephen Gregory (Fred), Will Knickerbocker (Max).
Director: Cary Medoway
Screenplay: Cary Medoway, Martin Copeland
Running Time: 90 min.